Nils Stump has been a judoka with heart and soul since he was seven years old. After winning the World Championship title and bronze in the last 14 months, the Olympic crown is to follow in Paris.
19.07.2024, 06:00
SDA
Judo can be pretty brutal. Three years ago, when Nils Stump fulfilled his dream of taking part in the Olympics for the first time, he had to retire after just one fight. "Of course, it's tough," admits the 27-year-old from the Zurich Oberland region. "If you lose one of the first fights, you're out again straight away. But that's what makes our sport so exciting."
Stump radiates enthusiasm for this, his, sport with every fiber of his well-trained body. And he has been for many years. "It was love at first mat," he writes on his website about his first encounter at the age of seven. Stump was a very active child with lots of energy, so his parents sent little Nils and his younger brother to judo. And hit the bull's eye. "Back then, there was nothing I liked wearing more than my judogi - the white 'robe' of the judoka," he continues, talking about the early days.
Training camp in the judo motherland
Joy and ambition became the ideal breeding ground for sporting success. After attending the Zürcher Oberland art and sports school in Uster and completing a commercial apprenticeship, Stump moved to Aargau to train at the national performance center in Brugg. While the world championship title came as something of a surprise a year ago, he confirmed this with a further two victories at Grand Slam tournaments, most recently this spring in Dushanbe, and world championship bronze two months ago. This is all the more astonishing as he suffered a complicated ligament injury to his left shoulder last November and had to undergo surgery. Five months later, he was back on the mat competing - and had lost none of his skills.
The Swiss judoka - in addition to Stump, Daniel Eich from Aargau (category up to 100 kg) and Binta Ndiaye from Vaud (up to 52 kg) have qualified - put the finishing touches to their preparations for the Olympic Games in Japan. The country of origin of the "gentle way" (translation of the Japanese word judo) is simply "mega good", says the Zurich native, explaining the long journey so shortly before the Olympics. "It has a huge range of athletes who are great to train with."
However, the last three weeks before the Olympics will now be used for fine-tuning and regeneration. And the somewhat strange ritual of the judoka before a competition. Nils Stump, like his competitors, has to suffer a lot to reach the required weight of 73 kg. In fact, almost all of them are heavier. They weigh themselves the evening before the competition, before which the athletes sweat away several kilos in heat suits or in the sauna, mostly water. Afterwards, they put as much weight back on as possible, and at the competition itself they are allowed to be a maximum of five percent over the limit (which is checked at random).
Only ten days' vacation a year
Stump has the "game" well under control. For several years now, he has lived only for his sport. Thanks to sports aid, the army and sponsors, he doesn't have to do any other work. That would not be possible at this level. He has some impressive figures on his website.
He trains 21 hours a week, competes in 14 competitions and around 48 fights in a year. To do this, Stump spends 380 hours traveling, as most judo tournaments take place outside of Europe. He has traveled to 18 countries, leaving him ten days of vacation a year. After Paris, it might be a few days more. However, Nils Stump is unlikely to last too long without judo.
